#code-readability

#code-readability

Every so often I open a PR and see something like this: deployFeature(flag, true, false, true); I run into it more often than I'd like. Not because it's complicated. Just because I have no idea what I'm looking at. So I click into the function definition, scroll a bit, lose my place, jump back, re-read the line...and only then does it click. Tiny interruption. Still annoying every time. I'm not reading code anymore, I'm decoding it

Your code is easiest to read just after you've written it. Your future self will find your code far less readable days, weeks, or months after you've written it. When it comes to code readability, whitespace is your friend. Whitespace around operators Compare this: To this: I find that second one more readable because the operations we're performing are more obvious (as is the order of operations). Too much whitespace can hurt readability though: This seems like a step backward because we've lost those three groups we had before. With both typography and visual design, more whitespace isn't always better.

Maybe you do truly understand one or two of these areas of coding mystery. Most of your fellow programmers are faking it. We all want to be thought competent by our peers-to have them think we know what we are doing. And for the most part, we do, right? But come on, let's be honest. There are a few things that just make our heads spin.